Edit 28/3 Currently stalled trying to figure out how to force refresh of bitmap display to LCD. Camera appears to have only one bitmap buffer in RAM. This can be updated and the changes will appear on the LCD if the Canon firmware triggers an update; but I have not been able to figure out how this update happens.

I haven't done any serious shooting with it yet; but I was impressed by the image quality from raw samples I found online. It's the same sensor as the G3X, G7X and G9X, which have received good reviews for image quality. Initial testing indicates it's on a par with the G1X noise wise.

I was looking at the G3X; but the CA at the extreme ends of the zoom was just too severe for me (uncorrectable in some of the examples I found). It is also a lot larger and the EVF is extra cost.

It's almost identical in size to the G12, the body is thinner; but the lens assembly is thicker to accomodate the faster lens. The EVF makes it a tad taller. It's also lighter than the G12.

The EVF is very, very good, not much more to say here.The LCD is a lot larger than the G12 leaving less room for buttons.

The large LCD and thinner body obviously created some challenges so the ergonomics are possibly not as good as the older G series. The buttons are smaller and have a softer touch - will take some getting used to. The battery is also a lot smaller, will see how many shots it gets in real life. The battery will charge from the USB cable (seperate charger is also supplied). Does not come with a USB cable which is pretty cheap on Canons part.

Plugging in the USB cable wakes up the camera - could be useful for long timelapses if we can take advantage of it.

I prefer the older style front dial, the new knob takes getting used to.

Having said that the controls are still very good for a compact camera. The LCD is also a touch screen with the usual Canon interface.

Currently I have it set to M mode with Av on the lens ring dial, ISO on the rear dial, and Tv on the front dial. I can quickly adjust all settings without taking my eye from the viewfinder. If I select auto ISO then the exposure compensation dial is also easily adjustable with my thumb. With the histogram displayed in the EVF it is easy to get the correct exposure.

A few possible pointers:- mzrm messaging functions, they seem to instruct the code running on the graphics cpuI'm calling them 'mzrm_createmsg' and 'mzrm_sendmsg'.They can be located by their debug strings: "[Mzrm]CreateWait" and "[Mzrm]SendWait" respectively.There are several dozens of functions which call mzrm_createmsg and mzrm_sendmsg to send various messages. These functions then seem to replace lower level code inside dialog/windowing/etc. code.

- there is something interesting inside 'DisplayDialogBox'sx280 102b addresses: fc2b70c2 -> fc29b8ca -> fc29b3e0 -> at fc29b458, a single BL is used where the ixus150 equivalent has a call to ScreenLock immediately followed by ScreenUnlock (which is what the ixus150 port is doing in its vid_bitmap_refresh() implementation).

The G7 X has well progressed and seems very close to be final.As the G7 X and the G5 X share a lot of components, is there any chance that the G5 X will be ported anytime soon?

Unfortunately, sharing similar hardware doesn't have much effect on how much effort is required to make a new port. A G5 X port would require a skilled developer who has the camera and a lot of time to spend on it.

Just to say that I hope some skilled developer will be able to port CHDK to G5X soon. I'm not skilled enough to do it myself and I don't even have the camera now... but it's the only canon I'm interested in at the moment; CHDK is definitely a must for me to buy the camera. I've used it in the past on other canons and I will not be able to live without.